Hello and a Merry Late Christmas to you all!
This chapter is probably the one that has caused me the most problem EVER! I'm not going to go into details about it because you not here to listen to me rant. Just know that I rushed the ending so that I could get it out before new year, I might go back and improve it later or not, depending on how I feel.
Ellie huffed out a silent curse as she pushed open the door to the storage room with her shoulder, both of her hands currently occupied with a large metal toolbox. She stumbled slightly, the heavy backpack full of boxes of screws throwing her slightly off balance, but she quickly recovered.
"Is that the last of it?" Becca asked.
She had her back turned, preoccupied with stacking one of the shelves with the boxes of nails Ellie had brought in a few minutes earlier. So, she thankfully did not see Ellie momentary loss of equilibrium.
"No," Ellie grunted.
"Fuuuuck, I was hoping we'd to be done with this crap by now," Becca wined, setting down her next box more forcefully then necessary. "I bet the others are already finished for the day, just my luck to get the shit job."
Ellie heaved the heavy box onto the table in the center of the storeroom and dumped the borrowed backpack next to it. She rolled her shoulder, trying to ease the strained muscles. The past hours of work had been nothing but heavy lifting and walking around delivering shit. It had been a while since she'd done this much physical labor in a day, though it wasn't nearly as bad as when Spears forced them all to build the barricade and dig up the parks.
"Hey, new girl, stop dawdling and get back out there," Becca barked sharply over her shoulder.
New girl, that was the only thing Becca had called her since they met, even though she damn well knew her name. Ellie didn't know if she just straight up hated her or if she just reveled in the fact that she was in charge and could boss her around. Whatever the case it was grating enough that Ellie actually started to miss working with Bonnie.
She had been sorely tempted on numerus occasions over the past hours to punch Becca in her big fat mouth. Partly because of her bossy behavior, but mostly because she had been hurling numerus jabs against the others for leaving.
"You're lucky Bill found you when he did, you'd probably have end up eaten by a lurker if he hadn't… or worse. I'm surprised any of them survived more than a week out there to be honest, especially that crybaby. Not that that would've been a big loss."
Seeing as violence wasn't an option – not unless she wanted to permanently lose her possessions and possibly her life – Ellie hoped that she would get the chance to make Becca look bad in front of Carver the same way she had Reggie. Though seeing as she was more loyal, competent and work focused than Reggie, Ellie was sure he wouldn't throw Becca off the roof but the sight of him yelling at her would be satisfying enough. It was unlikely however that she would get that chance, but she could hope.
"Did you hear me?" Becca's sharp voice cut through Ellie's thoughts.
"Yeah," Ellie answered, eying her with irritation.
"Then get a move on, we have to be done before sunset," Becca ordered. Her arms folded across her chest and feet tapping the floor impatiently.
"The suns all but set already," Ellie replied heatedly. "As you would have known if you had left this room in the past hour!"
"I've been sorting this shit!" Becca waved at the tools and the three dozen boxes stacked on the table.
"Which we could have done once we had brought everything inside," Ellie shot back, lips curled in contemp. "Sounds like a fucking excuse to avoid going outside to me."
Becca's cheeks turned scarlet. If looks could kill, then Ellie would have dropped dead several times over.
"If you don't hurry the fuck up," Becca hissed between gritted teeth. "I'm going to report to Bill that the reason we're late is because you've been dragged your feet all day. Now get out there before I kick your scrawny ass through the door."
Becca's self-control seemed to be hanging by a thread and for an instant Ellie was tempted to push her over the edge. In a one-on-one fight she was confident that she would be the one kicking ass, not the other way around. Whiles it would be immensely satisfying, it would most likely come at the cost of her stuff being destroyed. And that would not be worth introducing the little shit's face to the floor.
"Fine, I'm going," Ellie sneered and emptied the backpack's content onto the table.
"CARFUL WITH THOSE!" Becca yelled.
"I'm just hurrying the fuck up," Ellie retorted, slinging the backpack onto her shoulders and headed for the door. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Becca give her the finger and heard her mutter a string of insults. "Yeah, hate you too chickenshit."
Ellie was just about to grip the handle of the door when it opened, and she was forced to step back as a woman entered. Ellie recognized her at once as the same one she had seen with Becca earlier that day, her sister or mother or whatever.
"Oh! Sorry," The woman said with a start when she saw her. "Hi, Ellie, right?"
Having no interest in starting a conversation, Ellie gave a curt nod and gestured for her to move so she could leave. Thankfully the woman took the hint and stepped out of her way.
"What do you want Shel?" Becca snapped.
"I just came by to see how things are going in here?" Shel replied calmly, though she sounded tired.
"Everything's fine sis," Becca answered with exasperation. "We're almost done. You don't have to-"
The rest of Becca's words became muffled and unintelligent when Ellie closed the door behind her, and she quickly made her way towards the exit leading to the expansion. Even though night was just minutes away, the community was still bustling with activity. People hurrying back and forth carrying all manner of tools and equipment. Though they expressed a mixture of emptions, they were all driven by the same determination, to fortify the hell out of this building.
Ellie halted in place and looked up when the lights above suddenly started to flicker several times before they died, plunging the building into near total darkness. Several people exclaimed their surprise or irritation at the sudden absence of light.
"God shiting damn it!" a man somewhere on Ellie's right swore. "Don't tell me the batteries are busted."
"That would be just what we need on top of everything else," a woman grumbled.
"Relax," a second man said. "I bet it's just a burned-out fuse like last time. Just sit tight and I'm sure they'll have it fixed in a jiffy."
Ellie considered waiting until the lights came back on so she could see where she was going and not bump into something or someone. Not wanting to be accused of being tardy and dragged up to Carver's office, ultimately decided against it. Besides, there was still some light coming in from the windows high above to make navigation possible, and even though the power was out, the emergency exit sign above the door leading out glowed brightly in the dark, making it easy for her to find.
Pushing open the door, she was greeted by a darkness that was almost as bad as the one she had left; the sun was little more than a red ember on the horizon. As she made her way towards the shoe store, the fence in front of her shook and a low rasping growl came from beyond it. Ellie was not startled, nor did she slow her pace, but watched the barrier wearily as she passed. In the intervening hours since the breach had been fixed, more stalkers had gathered around the front of Howe's, no doubt drawn by the sound of the community.
"Or maybe from my meltdown earlier."
She hadn't meant to snap at Sarita like that, but between being tired, her head hurting, Kenny surviving the stalker attack and Carver threatening to destroy her most prized possessions, it had been a really shitty day. Then Sarita had started talking to her as if she was a child, as if she didn't understand Carver's intentions. Ellie wasn't fucking stupid, of course she knew what Carver was doing, it wasn't as if he was trying to be subtle about it. But the worst part wasn't how obvious it was, it was that his plan had almost worked, her meltdown had created a rift – however short lived – between her and the group.
Her cheeks burned with shame at the memory of standing in front of them all, shouting and crying. She had sensed them watching her with doubt and distrust when she stormed off and sat down by her bunk. In that moment, she hated them, she hated Carver, and she hated herself. She had wished that she had never left Boston, so that she wouldn't have experienced these last few days of pain and loss. She had been so deep in her own misery that she hadn't even heard someone approach.
"Hey," Nick had spoken softly.
"Go away," she had sobbed.
"You didn't leave me when I was down in the dumps back in the shed and I ain't gonna leave you now." He had let out a low grunt as he sat down beside her. "If Pete was here, he would have done the same."
The thought of Pete trying to comfort her made the aching in her heart even more pronounced and her chest heaved with convulsive sobs. She wished he was here. She wished she had told him how much he meant to her before he died.
"She didn't mean anything bad about it you know. Sarita, she's just worried about you."
"I'm not selling out the group to that asshole!" Ellie had raised her head, angry tears rolling down her cheeks next to her trembling lips.
"I know you're not," he had responded, his hand raised placatingly. "They all know it too. Sarita wasn't accusing you of anything. It's just… between what happened to Reggie, the lurker attack and Bill… she's just worried about you, we all are."
Nick placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Ellie had felt her heart swell with warms at their care and then contract with shame for having doubted them. She sniffed, her gaze downcast and wiped away a fresh tear.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… it's just… this all sucks."
"Yeah…" He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close so that her head rested on his shoulder.
It felt good, almost like when Mrs. Hale comforted her when she was younger. Before she had even known she was doing it, she nuzzled against the warm fabric. It made her think back to when Clementine slept in Luke's arms the day they met. A muscle tugged at the corner of her mouth at the memory of Clem blushing in embarrassment when she teased her about it afterwards in the shed. The smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and she felt a tightness in her gut. She missed Clem, she missed her a lot and she prayed that she was alright. She did not have time to think about Clem for long before Nick had spoken again.
"So, what do you think about what Sarita said? About Kenny having a plan for getting out of here."
Ellie had snorted derisively at that. "Right, let's follow Kenny, because none of his ideas has been shit so far." She glared at the man in question. "Pete and Walter are dead because of him."
"Bill's the one who pulled the trigger," Nick had pointed out.
"He wouldn't have done it if Kenny hadn't started shooting," Ellie had countered, her teeth gritted, and she pushed herself off Nick's shoulder.
Nick had only nodded half-heartedly. He showed none of the hate and blame he had expressed in the truck the previous day. The man who had caused his uncle's death was within a stone's throw of them and he did not so much as glare at him. Did he not care? Of course he did, he had to.
"Why the fuck aren't you angry at him?" Ellie had snapped; her voice laced with accusation.
"Who say's I'm not?" Nick retorted with a hint of irritation.
"You don't act like it."
"Because it won't do any good…" He had let out a heavy sigh. "And to tell you the truth, I'm too tired to be angry… at least at the moment. Besides, we need to work together if we are going to have any hope of getting out of here."
"With him?!" Ellie had been incredulous. Work with Kenny after all he had done! Had Nick hit his head or something? "Fuck that."
"Yeah, I know, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth too. But Carlos figures that if we fight amongst ourselves, we'll never get out of here. The only one who gains anything from that is Carver and I don't want that fucker to win… do you?"
"No, but…"
"If it means getting us out of here, I'm willing to at least hear him out. If his plan is shit, then fuck it and him, we'll come up with our own. What do you say?"
Ellie had wished that she could have said that she had an escape plan already, but she didn't. At least nothing that had any chance of saving them all or even most of them. The others were thinking about it, Ellie was certain of that, but like her any ideas they came up with they were keeping to themselves for now. The only semblance of a suggestion any of them had really uttered so far was to wait for Luke to sweep in like a knight in shining armor and save them all. In other words, wait and do nothing.
As much as Ellie despised the bearded old goat, she had to grudgingly admit that Kenny seemed to be the only one who was actively talking about and trying to organize the group to break out of this hellhole. Although she wanted him to pay for what he had done, she hated Carver more and she'd be damned before she let that asshole win. If beating him meant putting her plans of killing Kenny on hold, then so be it. She would hear him out and see how insane his new scheme was. What did she have to lose?
"Okey, I'll listen to his plan." Ellie nodded then snorted, "but I bet you it's as stupid as his other ideas."
"Yeah, probably. Personally, I wouldn't have minded if he died out there today." Nick jerked his head in the direction of the expansion. "The only one who would miss him would be Sarita… oh, and Clementine of course."
Ellie's heart had nearly stopped in her chest at those words. The thought hadn't even occurred to her, but yeah, Clem would miss him. His death would probably devastate her as badly as Mrs. Hale's had Ellie. What if… what if Kenny had died and Clem found out Ellie's roll in it? What would she say or do to Ellie upon learning she let her friend get killed? The thought haunted her even long after Tavia called an end to their break. Ellie had tried to avoid thinking about it ever since, it had proven to be very difficult.
As Ellie drew near to the door leading to the comic store, she saw four figures leaving the shoe store, two of whom were carrying flashlights. The three men in the lead had halted in their tracks when the light landed on her. Temporarily blinded, it took Ellie a handful of seconds before she could see enough details to identify them as Nick in the lead with a flashlight, closely followed by Mike and Kenny. Troy brought up the rear, armed with his automatic rifle and the second flashlight. Everyone but Troy had their hands full carrying tools and other construction equipment. Ellie guessed they were done for the day and was being escorted back to the yard.
"Did I tell you fuck heads to- what the hell do you want kid?" Troy asked in the o so friendly way of his when she drew level with them.
At the sound of his loud voice, the stalkers growls increasing in volume and attacked the fence with renewed vigor, shaking it violently. They all eyed the fortification warily and Ellie prayed that it would hold. After several seconds with no sign that the wood would give way, she let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding and returned her attention to the loudmouth idiot with the gun.
"I'm get more stuff," she answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Ellie kept her voice low so as not to rile up the dead even more. "You know, like I was ordered to do, or have you emptied the place?" Her last words were directed at the other three.
"Some minor stuff and a toolbox's left," Mike answered. Like her he kept his voice low.
"But that shit can wait until to-" Kenny started to say.
"Hey! Enough chit chat!" Troy snapped. "You three get your asses inside, now! And you get moving and grab what's left. We're about to lock up for the night." His mouth stretched into a cruel smile. "You better hurry up kid. If you're not back in time you'll have to spend the night out here."
Ellie blinked, unsure if she had heard him right. Based on the expressions of shock and outrage from Kenny, Mike, and Nick, she had. The three men started protesting at the same time, their voices so loud they nearly drowned out the snarls of the stalkers.
"You can't be serious!" Mike insisted.
"The fuck did you say!" Nick shouted.
"You son-of-a-bitch!" Kenny snarled.
The box Kenny had been holding dropped to the ground with a loud clattering crash and he took a step towards Troy. He looked about ready to throw himself at the man. Troy raised his machine gun and aimed it at Kenny's chest, freezing him in place. Troy's flashlight was now almost in head height, its beam blinding them all and hid his face in darkness.
"Try me," Troy spoke slowly, his voice full of sadistic glee. "Come on, give me an excuse."
Ellie felt a terrible sense of foreboding as she watched the standoff that had suddenly developed in front of her. The men faced each other, neither one seeming willing to back down and the tension in the air felt so thick that it could be cut with a knife. As much as Ellie hated Kenny and wanted him dead, this was not a good place for it. If he attacked and Troy started firing, he might hit her or Nick by mistake… or on purpose. And if he missed, the gun shoot could damage the fence and let the stalker in. Even if Kenny by some miracle managed to win there was no way Carver would let this go unpunished.
"Easy now. There is no need for this," Mike said with forced calm. "Starting a fight out here helps nobody."
"He's right," Ellie agreed quickly. She held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. She looked towards Troy but still couldn't see his face. "I'm going."
She slowly sidled towards the shoe store, her eyes never leaving the gun barrel and the patch of shadow behind the light. A hand suddenly grabbed her roughly by the shoulder of her flannel jacket and pulled her back, causing her to stumble and almost fall.
"Hey!" she yelled in surprise, her arms flailing in desperation to catch her balance.
"No fucking way," Kenny growled. "You're not staying out here alone."
"Kenny, let go." She tried to twist out of his grip, but his fingers were locked in place and would not budge. Seeing as struggling would not work, she tried to suppress her irritation and put as much reassurance in her voice as possible. "I'll be okey, I won't be long. You guys head on inside, and I'll see you back in the yard in no time."
Kenny was not convinced; in fact, he looked even more pissed off then before. Impossibly, his grip on her jacket tightened and the fingers on his left hand repeatedly flexed, clenching into a fist then unclenching again.
"Hey! Everything okey down there Troy?" a voice called out from above. Ellie didn't need to look up to know that the roof guard on the main building most likely had his gun trained on them.
"Well old fart, is everything okey down here?" Troy asked, his tone conveying the shit eating grin Ellie was sure he had on his face.
"Oh crap," Nick muttered. His head turning back and forth between the roof, Kenny and Troy.
"Kenny please," Ellie whispered urgently. "Don't make it worse for us then it already is."
To her surprise and relief, he let go. He was clearly still pissed off as hell and glaring at Troy, but his posture became more relaxed. Not entirely sure if he had stood down, but not wanting to take the chance of losing this opening, Ellie took a tentative step towards the store.
"Ellie, wait." Nick held out his flashlight to her. "Here, you can't work in the dark."
She took it with a grateful smile. "Thanks. I'll see you guys soon."
"Troy?" the roof guard called again.
"Everything's under control. Pick that shit up and get moving before I change my mind!" Troy gestured with his gun towards the dropped boxes. "Get your scrawny ass moving girly! Or I swear-"
"I'm going, I'm going."
The door squeaked as it opened and closed behind her, muffling most of the noise from outside and leaving her in near total darkness. With a click Ellie turned on her flashlight and walked slowly deeper into the shop in the direction of where the breach had happened. Though the corpses had been removed shortly after the fight, the place still stank of decay and most likely would for a long time to come. She took great care to avoid treading in the sticky dark stains on the floor that marked the spots where the stalkers had fallen. Shadows dancing across the walls as she moved the light around, blending together into different shapes and sizes, some of which looked vaguely humanoid.
"There is no one else here," she chided herself when one such silhouette that resembled an outstretched arm had made her jump.
Fortunately, it didn't take her long to spot the toolbox she was there for, unfortunately however most of the tools had not been put back into their proper place. After filling her backpack with some carpentry equipment that was too large for the box, Ellie spent several minutes looking around the place to find and gather the smaller tools, cursing the men's sloppiness all the while.
She was about to place a tape measurer in the box when she paused and listened; she could have sworn that she heard the door closing. For several seconds she was frozen in place listening for any sound, but there was nothing. Letting out the breath she had been holding she went back to work.
"Mind's playing tricks on me again."
She was about to place one of the last tools into the box when she paused again, something wasn't right. It took her a few seconds to realize what it was. Her nose wrinkling in disgust as the stench of putrefying flesh and intestinal fluid that permeated the air increased in potency. A low creaking suddenly came from behind her that made the hair on the back of her neck rise and sent her heart leaping into her throat. Snatching a screwdriver from the toolbox, Ellie jumped to her feet and spun around to face the threat. Makeshift weapon raised; she directed the light towards the noise and illuminating a human shape less than seven feet from her. The figure raised its blood covered hands with a speed Ellie had not expected and her body tensed in anticipation of the attack.
"Wait!" the figure yelled.
"The fuck!?" Ellie exclaimed, taking an involuntary step back and nearly tripped on the toolbox.
She blinked several times in confusion, stalkers did not talk, everyone knew that. Which meant the figure in front of her was a person… and the voice sounded familiar. Brow furrowed, she squinted at the short person before her, praying that her ears were not deceiving her. But no, neither her ears nor her eyes were playing tricks on her this time. Even though the person was hiding their face behind an outstretched hand, and they were covered from head to toe in dark stains, there was no mistaking that hat nor the multicolored jacket she wore.
"Clem." Ellie whispered in astonishment.
"Could you lower the light please?" Half of Clementine's face peaked out from behind her hand, one golden eye squinting between its lids.
The screwdriver fell from Ellie's hand and hit the floor with a clatter. She rushed forward and swept the shorter girl into a tight hug. The move must have surprised her, for Clementine let out a short gasp and froze up for a second or two, before hugging her back. The jacket that had once belonged to Ellie was slightly damp to the touch and stank so badly like a stalker that it made her stomach turn and she had to fight not to gag. But Ellie didn't really care about her own discomfort at the moment, Clem was here, and she was alive.
"You have no idea how glad I am to see you," she whispered into Clem's ear.
"Ellie… please… I need air," Clem spoke haltingly, her hand patting against Ellie's back with slight alarm.
"Oh, Sorry!" Ellie let go and took a step back.
Clem waved her apology away. "It's okey… I glad to see you to."
As Clem caught her breath, Ellie gave her a quick once over and she felt the scar on her forehead sting slightly when her brow rose in confusion. Clem's appearance was nothing short of bizarre and even more reminiscent of something out of a slasher move than Ellie herself had been a few hours earlier. Though rather than being the result of killing a bunch of stalkers, Clem seemed to have smeared the stuff on herself deliberately. For what purpose though, Ellie didn't have the foggiest idea. But other than being covered all over in dried stalker blood – which was gross as shit by the way – she didn't look any worse than the last time she saw her. At least that was what she thought until she noticed the bandage wrapped around Clem's neck and all thoughts of her gory appearance flew out the window.
"Your hurt, what happened?" Ellie leaned in closer to inspect the damage.
"It's not that bad." But the wince Clem made when she moved her head slightly gave away the lie. "It's just a sallow cut, it's no big deal."
"What happened," Ellie repeated more insistently.
"I-" Clem bit her lower lip. "We ran into two of Carver's scouts when we crossed the mountains… one of them cut me with a knife."
Relief and anxiety fought for dominion inside Ellie. Clementine was standing there in front of her, alive if not whole. But it could have been a lot worse, if the blade had gone just a bit deeper it most likely would have hit a major artery or her windpipe, and then...
Ellie let out an involuntary sob and pulled her friend into another hug. Fingers digging into the fabric of the younger girl's clothes as if it was a lifeline. She could have lost her, just like Mrs. Hale, Riley, Marlene and Pete and she would probably never have known about it.
"You could have died." Ellie tightened her grip; another sob almost escaped her.
"I'm okay… Ellie." Clem gently rubbed circles on Ellie's back, her own voice cracking slightly. "I'm alright. They're gone… and they can't hurt anyone anymore. Promise me… you won't tell the others, especially Kenny, I don't want him… to worry."
"I promise."
They stood like that for what felt like half an hour but was probably no more than a minute.
"So, where's Luke? Is he here to?" Ellie asked when they parted, her voice under control once more.
Clem nodded; the hiss that escaped from her grimacing mouth told Ellie that she instantly regretted the movement. "Yes, he- eh… he's out there," Clem said and pointed towards the boarded-up windows.
"Out there as in right outside or…"
"No, the forest." Clem spoke quickly. "We didn't think it was smart for more than one of us to go in, so he stayed behind with the others."
"Others?" Ellie asked, eyes narrowing. "What others?"
"Oh… We ran into two members from your old group an-" Ellie's hands shot forward like striking snakes and seized hold of Clem's shoulders. "Ouch!"
Ellie ignored Clem's cry of pain; her mind focused on the words she had just heard. Two others, two others from her group had made it out of the ambush, she wasn't the only survivor. A fragile hope bloomed at the thought. Could one of them be Marlene? If anyone of the Fireflies could have made out of there alive, then surly it would be her.
"Who? What's their names?" Ellie all but shouted, desperation cracking her voice. Her fingers clutching onto Clementine as if her life depended on it. "Clem is one of them Marlene?"
"N-no," Clem answered, her expression a mix between pain and sorrow.
Ellie grip on Clementine slackened and her arms fell limply to her sides, her revived hope withered to ash and blew away like dust in the wind. She stumbled back two steps and turned her back to Clementine, trying and failing to stifle a sob. She had known for some time that the chance of Marlene making it out of the ambush was slim, but a small part of her had held on to a glimmer of hope. A tear rolls down her cheek as that glimmer died for good.
"I'm sorry Ellie," Clementine said. Clem's smaller hand slid into her own and squeezed it gently.
"I was stupid to hope," Ellie whispered. She tugged herself free from Clem's hand and whipped her eyes before turning to face her friend. "So, who are they?"
"It's Joel and Tess."
This surprised Ellie. Out of all the people in her group, Joel and Tess had not been at the top of her list of likely survivors. Other than Marlene, she would have expected some other fireflies – people who had both training and experience fighting against the military – not two of the people they just happen to pick up along the way. Maybe it was biased of her to think that way, considering she knew little to nothing about them, though not for lack of trying. She had talked to both on several occasions, with varying degrees of success.
The two had been together when they ran into the fireflies and had apparently been surviving as a team for some time since the outbreak. Joel did not like interacting with people at all, and you were lucky to get more than a few sentences out of him. Which made talking to him difficult… and annoying. The guy was a grumpy brick wall that rarely even cracked so much as a smile, even when she told some of her best pun jokes. In fact, it only seemed to make him even grumpier… some people just didn't have a good sense of humor. Tess was more friendly – at least she laughed at some of Ellie's jokes – but she too did not seem to like to interact too much with the people in the group, other than Joel that is.
When she commented on this too Marlene, she had been told to leave them alone and that they would open up at their own pace. They never got the chance, as that very same day they were attacked. She couldn't recall exactly where in the column of vehicles Joel and Tess were when the shooting started, but she thought they had to be close to the back. Ellie herself – who had been in the middle – only survived because she ran away… and was very lucky.
"Maybe they got lucky too."
"Okay… That's good, we're gone need them." Ellie brow creased in slight confusion, causing the wound on her forehead to sting. Ignoring it, she asked, "but why isn't Luke the one sneaking in here instead of you? I mean he used to live here, so he knows this place better than you."
"He's exhausted," Clementine answered quickly. "He jogged all the way here with barely any stops, carrying me on his back."
Ellie's gawked at the younger girl, to dumbfounded by what she'd just heard to speak. She knew Luke was in good shape, he had carried Clem when they ran away from the walkers after they first met after all. And he was one of those who held up best during their flight from Carver. But this, this was something else entirely. He must have taken one hell of a shortcut, since they hadn't even been at Howe's for a full day before he managed to catch up to them.
"That's…. wow. I didn't know he… or anyone was capable of that."
"I don't think he knew either." As she spoke, Clementine's expression became downcast and her tone gloomy, then just as suddenly it shifted back again. "How are you guys holding up? Is anyone hurt? Is Kenny, okay?"
Ellie's brow knitted, slightly confused by her sudden mood swing. She contemplated asking what was wrong, but chose not to, shrugging it off as Clem just being worried about Luke. She was a bit concerned about him herself to be honest.
"Kenny's fine," Ellie answered, doing her best to hide the mixed emotions she now felt over that fact. "Not everyone's so lucky though."
"Who's hurt?" Clem asked in a rush.
"Well, Carver broke two of Carlos's fingers… and then there is Alvin," Ellie sighed.
There was a brief pause as Ellie contemplated whether she should go into details or not about Alvin's state. But Clementine was not Sarah and as such Ellie saw no point in sugarcoating it.
"Carver is torturing him up in his office, he looked pretty bad when last I saw him. Carver is even worse than they said, he killed one of the other workers today. Said he screwed up one to many times and threw him of the roof after beating him up."
Clem looked horrified.
"Yeah…" was all Ellie could say in response. "I've been trying to think of a way for us to escape all day, but so far, it's amounted to a big fat nothing." She scratched the side of her head in irritation, ruffling her hair and pulling a few of the shorter strands out of her ponytail. "There are just too many guards and obstacles in the way to get us all out without shit hitting the fan. I hope you guys have a plan."
"We do, but it's not without risk," Clem said carefully. "I don't think the others are going to like it."
"Well, at this point I don't think we have much of a choice."
"It also very disgusting." Clementine grimaced and tugged at a stain on the shoulder of her jacket.
"I was wondering what was up with your new look." Ellie gestured at Clem's blood-spattered clothes. "Seriously Clem, you stink even worse than you look."
"Believe me, putting it on is even worse than the smell." Clem shuddered. "It's worth it though. So long as I smell like a walker and don't do anything to draw their attention, they don't attack me."
"Say what?" Ellie uttered, unsure if she heard her wrong or if Clem was just pulling her leg.
"Since I stink like a walker, they can't tell the difference between me and one of them."
Utterly dumbfounded, Ellie's jaw dropped. Clem's explanation sounded ludicrous… and yet at the same time logical. Everyone knew by now that stalkers have pore eyesight – if any at all – and thus relied on sound to find their victims. Knowing that, it wasn't that far of a leap to think they would use whatever sense of smell they had left to hunt with as well. With that knowledge, it made sense that you could camouflage your presence from them with their stink. How the hell had she not heard of this until now? There were close to a thousand people living in the Boston QZ if not more, and as far as she could remember she hadn't heard of anyone doing anything like this. Had simply no one figured it out until now?
"For real!?" Ellie asked.
Clem nodded. "I walked through a herd out of Savanah. Joel and Tess have also done it several times. They're using the same technique to lead the herd here."
"That's… fucking genius!" Ellie's mouth split into a wide grin, and she felt an urge to hug Clem again. Consideration for her wound neck, as well as the stains that had smeared themself onto Ellie's own clothes from the last hug however, stopped her. "Why haven't you told any of us this before? Me and Nick could have used it when we were stuck in the shed or when we were attacked at the lodge."
"I didn't think about it," Clementine admitted apologetically. She gestured weakly to her clothes. "It's not very comfortable or without risk. If you're not quiet and act like a walker or get close enough that they can see you're not one of them, they'll attack. I don't think it would be good to get any of this stuff in the eyes or an open wound either."
"But even so, it could have been handy to know in a tight spot."
Clem hung her head and whispered, "I'm sorry."
Feeling slightly guilty at using such a harsh tone with her, Ellie quickly said, "Hey, it's okey. We made it out, that's what important."
Clem raised her head and gave a weak nod, still looking very remorseful. Ellie patted her encouragingly on the shoulder, then began pacing back and forth, mulling over the information she had just been given.
"So, Tess and Joel have led the herd here to attack Howe's and I'm guessing we're supposed to use this… camouflage to walk through it when it hits, right?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Okey, but how are we supposed to get out of the yard," Ellie asked, stopping her pacing and faced Clem. "I don't know if you have seen it, but Carver has us penned in between this and the main building with reinforced fences and barbwire. There are guards on the roof and by the gate watching us at almost all time."
"Oh… that's… we thought you would be locked up in the main building." Clem tried to put on a brave face, but it was clear the news caused her some distress. She bit her lower lips, her gaze darting around as if trying to find a solution among the empty shelves. "Hopefully the guards will be drawn away when the herd hits."
"Maybe," Ellie said, though she had her doubts about that.
"Even if the guards stay, Tess and Joel can probably deal with them. We think we've found a way into the main building, but we need a map of the camp. If you or one of the others could make one and mark out important locations, it would help a lot."
"I can try, But I haven't been everywhere in this place." Ellie searched around for something to write with as well as on. There were a few dirty pieces of paper on the floor, and she quickly snatched up one of them, but there was no pen as far as she could see. "Fuck."
"Here." Clem dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out a ballpoint.
Ellie took it gratefully and moved over to the cash counter, placing the blank side of the paper up. Her hand hovered over the counter as she tried to visualize the layout of Howe's before she put pen to paper.
"You don't have to make it right away. We have time," Clem reassured, breaking Ellie's concentration. "The main part of the herd isn't going to hit until tomorrow night at the earliest. I have a backway into the store next door. If you or one of the others can drop off the map there tomorrow, behind the counter, I can pick it up."
"Nick might be able to do that. He worked out here today," Ellie suggested quickly. She sure as hell wasn't going to trust Kenny with that job. She folded the paper and stuck it along with the pen into her pocket. As she did, a thought struck her. "You know, we might be able to get it to you already tonight."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's not without risk though."
"Well, neither is me being here now," Clem pointed out, gesturing for her to continue.
"True. Alright, you know the corridor they've built outside, it led past the fence to the yard. Although they have tried to reinforce it, there are plenty of gaps large enough to pass a folded map through."
"Sounds easy enough."
"You'll need to be very careful Clem," Ellie warned. "There is at least one guard on the main building roof, if they see you-"
"I know," Clem interrupted. "But I think I'll be okey so long as I stay low and quiet. These stains also make it harder to see me in the dark. But how long do you think it will take to make the map? I can't stay out here all night."
"I don't know," Ellie answered. "Give us an hour, that should be more than enough. We could just mark it with something so it's easy for you to see and drop it through the fence for you to pick it up whenever."
"It would be good to know what kind of marker I'm looking for." Clem folded her arm over her chest. "A lot of things look the same in the dark."
"Eh…" Ellie wracked her brain trying to think of something that would be easy for Clementine to see, and at the same time not get confused with all the other knicks and knacks of garbage that littered the ground outside. It took her a few seconds, then she dug her hand into one of her pockets and pulled out the gloves Bonnie had given her. "You think you'll be able to see these?"
"Yeah…" Clem answered, looking slightly bemused. "If you find out anything else that you think we should know, you can write it down and drop it off behind the counter next door and I'll try to pick it up before tomorrow night."
"Sounds good, but other than the map, is there anything else you need us-"
The sudden squeaking of hinges cut Ellie's sentence short. Both girls whirled towards the noise, looking with trepidation at the hallway, where the beam from a flashlight had just appeared. A short series of loud coughs echoed from the other room, followed shortly by the sound of footsteps.
"Shit, it must be Troy."
Ellie's pulse raced in alarm. She had been out here too long in his eyes no doubt, which meant the bastard had an excuse to punish her. The growing anxiety in her chest was not entirely a result of concern for her own well-being, no, that took a back seat to another greater apprehension. If Troy saw Clem, there was no telling what he would do.
"Hide," Ellie whispered, pointing at a row of shelves. Her words were fortunately partly drowned out by another series of coughs from Troy.
Quick and quiet as a mouse, Clementine slunk away. Ellie hurried to pick up the screwdriver from the floor and was about to place it into the toolbox when a thought struck her. If they were going to escape, she would need a weapon, and this might be the only chance she had to get one. She hastily shoved it into the pocket on the inside of her jacket and slammed the toolbox lid shut. Gathering up her courage and backpack, hoisting the latter onto her shoulders, she turned to face the approaching sadist. Swallowing the lump that was trying to form in her throat, she raised the flashlight just as he came into view.
"What the?"
Ellie blinked in surprise; it wasn't Troy as she had expected. It was a boy about her own age with short light brown hair and brown eyes. Ellie recognized him as one of the teens she had seen around Howe's during the day. Since she hadn't been forced to work or interact with him in any way, she hadn't paid him – or any of the other teens for that matter – much attention.
"Hi." The boy's mouth stretched into a cocky lopsided smile. "What's a ray of sunshine like you doing in a dark place like this."
"Oh, hell no!"
She may not have recognized his face, but she had unfortunately heard his voice earlier that very day and had hoped she'd never have to hear it again.
"What are you doing here?" Ellie asked, not even trying to hide the annoyance she felt.
"Why you wound me." Chris placed his palm on the chest of his dark blue jacket in mock hurt. "Here I am risking life and limb to come and help, and this is the response I get?"
"What are you doing here?" Ellie repeated with even more exasperation.
"Okey, okey, shish, I was just joking. I came to get you. You've been out here a long time, and we were starting to get worried. Also, Troy was about to lock the door."
Ellie wished she could say she was surprised, but she wasn't. The sadistic asshole had been trying to intimidate and find an excuse to punish her ever since they got captured. She could still vividly remember the gleeful smile he had worn after Carver hit her and it was clear as day that the sick fuck was getting a kick out of it.
Her opinion of the man must have shown on her face, because Chris chuckled and said, "well, he's called Howe's biggest asshole for a reason. Bonnie stopped him though; she looked about ready to strangle him on the spot. I swear I've never seen her so pissed off in all my time here, half of Howe's must have heard her screaming. If I didn't know better, I's say she was trying to bring the herd down on us."
"If she's so worried then why are you here?" She would have much rather have to deal with Bonnie over this guy any day of the week.
"Because I don't think she trusted Troy not to try and lock her out as well after what she called him. I volunteered to get you whiles she's guarding the door, so you don't have to worry about being forced to stay out here tonight." He moved his flashlight around the room, then down to the floor. He stamped his right foot twice as if testing its solidity. "It's not a very comfortable place to sleep, and the less said about the smell the better." Then he added in a mumble, "though it's probably warmer than the yard."
"Yeah, it is," Ellie agreed frostily.
"Shit! I didn't- I just meant-" Chris uttered before shutting his mouth with a snap. There was a brief awkward silence in which he looked around sheepishly, determinedly avoiding her gaze. "Sooooo, are you done in here? Do you need help with anything?"
"I'm done, and I don't need any help. Especially from you."
Ellie picked up the toolbox with a grunt, holding it with both hands, she headed for the door. Chris shuffling along behind her, mumbling something to himself that she didn't catch, not that she tried. The stalkers were still growling and clawing as determinately at the fence when they left the building as they had when she had entered it. This gave Ellie an unexpected source of entertainment, as Chris startled and skittishly jerked his flashlight to the homemade defense every time it shook.
As they passed the comic store, Ellie couldn't help but slow her pace a little and look at the dark red stain in the vague shape of a hand that she had smeared on the window earlier. On the other side of the grimy glass, Savage Starlight steely gaze followed her as she passed.
"Endure and survive."
They just needed to hold out one more day and then they would be free from this place, free from Carver. That was of course if the plan worked.
"So, do you like comics?" Chris asked suddenly, jolting her out of her thoughts. Ellie did not answer him, quickly averted her gaze from the window and returned to her previous pace. "The store is still full of them you know. Me and some of the others have snuck out there a few times. Maybe… we could go there tomorrow… if you want."
Out of the corner of her eyes, through the gaps in the metal fence, she glimpsed several figures moving about around the firepit in the yard. It was impossible to tell how many there were, but it looked like most of the others had been returned to the pen.
"Yeah, right," Ellie snorted at the absurdity of his suggestion. Voice dripping with sarcasm, she added, "because Carver is such a nice guy, he would absolutely let me skip work to go read comics."
This earned her a sly smile from the slightly taller boy. "Well, it just so happens that because of a "miscommunication" some equipment was "accidentally" misplaced in there a while back. I just happened to remember it an hour ago and volunteered to get the stuff tomorrow, but I will need some help packing it up."
Ellie bit her lower lip, hesitating, as she had just realized something. Though she had told Clem that Nick might be able to deliver stuff there, but seeing as they had been ordered to bring all the equipment inside today, there was no guarantee that he or anyone else would be sent out to work here tomorrow. Sneaking out without being spotted would be hard if not impossible. If she took Chris up on his offer, she could take Nick's role of he couldn't do it, but it might also put their entire plan in jeopardy. If Clem was hiding out there when they arrived and Chris saw her, they would have to kill him, and how the hell was she supposed to hide that? Suspicion would fall on her immediately, followed by an execution.
"So, what do you say?" Chris asked with poorly concealed eagerness.
But this might be the only chance they got; she had to take it. Ellie suppressed the impulse to groan; this would be a serious test of both her patience and acting ability. She had no illusion that Chris was doing this solely to skip work for an hour or two so they could read comics. No, it was obvious that he just wanted her alone so that he could flirt with her. And for the sake of the plan, she would have to play along… at least up to a point.
"I swear if he tries anything, I'll kick his balls so hard they'll end up behind his eyes." Putting on her best fake smile, she answered, "sure, sounds like it could be fun." And then a thought struck her that made her smile genuine. "Say, do you know if they have the last issue of Savage Starlight?"
"Don't know, maybe," Chris answered, a stupid grin spreading across his face and threatened to split it in half. "I'd say it's possible."
"I've been looking everywhere for it ever since "they" happened." She nodded in the direction of the shaking barrier. "It was supposed to be released, like, a day or so before everything went to hell, and I haven't been able to find a copy anywhere."
"Well, maybe tomorrow will be your lucky day." Chris opened the door to Howe's, bowed low and gestured for her to go first. "After you, my lady."
Deciding to play along with his stupid game, Ellie curtsied and said in the most aristocratic manner possible. "Why, thank you kind sir, you are a real gentleman."
"I aim to please, my lady."
Bonnie was waiting for them when they entered, hands on her hips and tapping the heal of her foot anxiously.
"Thank goodness your back," she said when she saw them. "I was starting to get worried something happened to the both of ya."
"Other than our nostrils almost getting singed from the stench, we're fine." Chris waved his hand in front of his nose as if the foul odor had followed them. Which it incidentally had thanks to the hugs Ellie had given Clem.
"Sorry Bonnie, I slipped in some of the stalker goo and dirtied my new clothes," Ellie lied and looked down at the stains on her jacket. "And it took a bit to find all the tools in the dark too."
"Well, you're both here, that's what's important." Bonnie smiled at them suddenly turned into a frown and her brow knitted in irritation. "I can't believe Troy had you working out there alone and then tried to lock you out. There is something seriously wrong with that guy."
"He's not the only one." Ellie glanced towards Carver's office, but the man in question did not seem to be there at the moment.
"He's an asshole," Chris agreed nonchalantly. "I don't think anyone here would mind seeing him go."
Bonnie made a noncommittal sound, then said, "Chris, would you mind taking the equipment to the storeroom? I need to talk to Ellie for a bit."
"Oh… yeah, sure." He looked a bit disappointed, but quickly rallied.
Glad to be rid of her baggage and him, Ellie quickly handed over the toolbox and her backpack.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Ellie," he said before heading towards the storeroom, walking backwards. He grinned, gave her a wink and added, "also, I told you I was going to get your name." He then spun on his heel and walked off with a spring in his steps.
Ellie held back a groan and struggled not to roll her eyes. "See you tomorrow," she called after him with fake sheer.
Bonnie chuckled. "Well, you two seem to be hitting it off."
"Yeah, well… what did you want to talk about?"
Bonnie chuckled and smiled knowingly, then her expression became concerned. She looked around to make sure no one was within earshot.
"I just wanted to make sure you're alright," she whispered, her tone slightly anxious. "I talked to Bill about what happened to Reggie. I figured that if he had done it like you implied, he'd make up some sort of excuse, but…" Her gaze fell to the floor and her expression became troubled. "He admitted he did it. Talked about it as if it was nothing… like Reggie was but weed that needed to be cleared. The matter-of-fact way he said it made my blood run cold. I thought I knew him but… turns out I don't know him at all. It ain't the first time I've misjudged a person. At this point I don't know if I'm just an idiot or if he's just good at playing people like a fiddle."
"Both," Ellie thought.
Her eyes darted to Carver's office then back to Bonnie. Carver had not returned yet. Maybe that was one of the reasons for Bonnie being so anxious, she was afraid he would hear her in person. Ellie wasn't sure if she wished for that to happen or not. There were worse people here than Bonnie that she would have preferred met Carver's wrath.
Bonnie looked up and sighed. "Like you, Luke and the others tried to warn me about him, before I mean. I was supposed to come with them when they left."
This was news to Ellie. The others had not mentioned her at all, nor anyone else they may have approached. Ellie wondered for the first time how many more they had tried to convince to leave this place with them before they enacted their escape. She was pretty sure the number could not be counted on more than one hand, given how low of an opinion the people of Howe's seemed to have of Luke and the others.
"Why didn't you leave?" Ellie asked, with genuine curiosity.
"I got cold feet, I chickened out," Bonnie admitted, sounding slightly ashamed. "This is the best place I have been since the outbreak started. We got power, food, strong walls and weapons. It's safe for the most part, I guess I got comfortable. Bill, he… he wasn't like he is now. It ain't easy keeping a group this big fed and protected. That's a heavy burden that's bound to make anyone a little stressed."
"A little stressed," Ellie hissed with suppressed rage. "Are you fucking serious?"
"I'm not defending what he did," Bonnie spoke quickly. "That was… messed up, no matter what justification he uses." She took a moment to compose herself before she continued. "What I'm trying to say is that I and many others here are alive because of him, it's one of the things I thought about when Luke asked me to leave with him and the others. I thought I made the right call, that it would be easier to fix something broken then start over somewhere else. Now… I'm not so sure anymore."
A short awkward silence followed before Bonnie said, "Ellie, please be careful and don't do anything to get on Bill's bad side, alright? I've seen too many kids die already and I don't want you to join them."
Ellie still smoldered inside with indignation at what Bonnie had said about Carver being stressed and for a brief instance, she contemplated telling her to go fuck herself. But other than her own satisfaction, nothing good would come of that, and besides, it's not as if any promise she made actually meant anything.
"I promise."
"Thank you," Bonnie sighed. She smiled with relief; it was slightly brittle with a hint of sadness to it. "And again, I'm so sorry you got dragged into all of this darling… now come on kid, it's getting late. It's almost time for you to hit the hay."
She wrapped her arm around Ellie's shoulders and guided her towards the yard. Ellie had to fight the instinct to shrug her off. Let Bonnie think she had gained her trust, it would only help to lower her guard.
Ellie threw one final glance to Carver's office. It still looked empty. She wondered if it would be that way tomorrow when the herd hit. Probably, Carver was not the kind of guy to hide in a crisis. Would she have time to run up there to get her things when they escaped? She hoped so, the thought of leaving them behind with him made her chest ache and left a bad taste in her mouth that made her grimace.
As they neared the gate, Ellie saw Troy leaning against the nearby wall. He watched them intently; his expression so sour you could have believed he had just sucked on a lemon. He spat onto the floor in their direction when their eyes met, pushed off from the wall and walked away.
"Fucking asshole."
They came to a halt by the gate. The guard – a dark-skinned man in his early twenties with a terminal case of resting bitch face – eyed Ellie with suspicion.
"Is this the last one Bonnie?" he asked, sounding as annoyed as he looked.
"Eeyup."
The guard grunted and raised the door with a metallic rattle.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Bonnie gave Ellie a light nudge. "Goodnight, I hope you sleep well," Bonnie said right before the irate guard slammed the gate shut and locked it.
Most of the group had gathered around the firepit and was in deep discussion when Ellie entered the yard. The noticeable exception was the short haired woman, who like before kept to herself in her corner. A quick headcount told Ellie that she was indeed the last person to finish her work for the day. Her gaze was quickly drawn to Nick who was waving his arm to get her attention and patted an empty seat next to him.
"You shouldn't be so friendly with them. Remember what they did," Ellie heard the guard say as she headed towards the saved seat.
"Oh, my memory is fine Russel," Bonnie replied. "I'm starting to wonder if yours is though, considering you don't seem to recall she didn't used to live here."
Whatever Russel said in response went unheard by Ellie. Distance as well as another voice muffled it to the point that it was almost no more than background buzz.
"Couse we all know what happened this morning!" Kenny spoke emphatically, pointing towards the fence. "I don't know what that son-of-a-bitch I going to do next!"
"So, you wanna ring the dinner bell for a herd of walkers to show up?" Mike asked with a tone of incredulity. "How is that any better?"
Sitting down, Ellie was surprised when Nick handed her a can of vegetable soup. She had apparently just missed their evening meal, and he had saved her share. She whispered her thanks and started shoving the surprisingly warm liquid into her mouth. He must have kept it close to the fire whiles he waited for her to return.
"Cause this place will be in fucking chaos when that thing hits." Kenny jabbed his finger toward the main building. "They'll be too busy to pay any attention to us and that's our moment of opportunity. We just got to figure out a way to draw them dead heads here."
"Have I missed anything important?" Ellie asked Nick in a whisper once she had swallowed the latest spoonful.
It sounded from what little she had heard like Kenny's plan was just as hairbrained and as likely to get them killed as his last one. Or it would have been a stupid plan if Clementine had not just told her that there was a way to walk through a herd without being devoured. Did Kenny know about the camouflage method? Maybe he did, but Ellie doubted it, or he would probably have mentioned it by now.
"I was just telling everyone about how we can get out of this shithole," Kenny cut in before Nick had a chance to answer.
"Some plan," Rebecca snorted, rolling her eyes. "He wants to get us killed by lurkers before Bill can do it."
"Have you listened to a word I said?" Kenny asked heatedly.
"Yeah, and that's what it sounds like to me."
"I agree," Carlos chimed in. He was sitting next to Sarah, one arm around her while she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Your plan has too many gaps in it for my liking."
"Which is why we're discussing it now, so we all can help fill them," Matthew reasoned.
"What is this plan exactly? To draw the herd here?" Ellie asked, interrupting Sarita who had been about to speak.
"Yup," Kenny answered with a note of pride. "We lure the herd here and slip away in the chaos."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Mike wondered.
"Walkers are drawn to sound, so we just need something loud," Matthew answered as if it was obvious.
"Well, unless you've got a megaphone tucked away in your hoodie, it doesn't help us much," Rebecca pointed out, then returned her focus to Kenny. "And we're locked in here and under guard at almost all hours. They'll hear if we make a lot of noise."
"I noticed that they've beefed up security this morning," Mike remarked. "There weren't this many guards yesterday."
"Which is another reason why we should wait for a better opening," Rebecca asserted. "When they have become laxer and lower their guard."
"And how long do you think that will take, huh?" Kenny asked sardonically. "We don't have the luxury of time to wait. Matthew has the right idea. We just need something laud to draw the walker's attention."
"The P.A. system-" Sarita started to say when Ellie interrupted her.
"Actually, we don't need to do anything. The herd is going to hit this place no matter what anyone of us do."
This earned the attention of everyone around the firepit, their expressions ranging from surprise to incredulity. Sarah who had looked about ready to drift off sat up straight, now suddenly wide awake.
"How do you know that?" Nick asked.
"I meet Clem out at the expansion," Ellie answered. "She and Luke arrived here earlier today but they couldn't find a way to get in unseen until after dark."
This news caused a stir amongst those gathered, ranging from surprise, joy and worry.
"How is she?" Kenny asked.
"Is she hurt?" Carlos inquired at almost the same time.
"Just a few scratches, nothing serious," Ellie reassured.
She didn't like lying to them, but Clem had asked her not to tell them of her wound. Seeing their relief, she had to concede that it was probably the right call, but that still didn't mean she liked it though.
"What about Luke?" Nick asked.
"I didn't see him, but Clem said he's fine, just exhausted. He apparently ran almost none stop all the way here carrying her on his back."
"Jesus," Matthew whispered with a note of admiration.
"He's full of surprises," Rebecca chuckled, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "One of the reason Bill hates him so much."
"Whiles that good and all, it doesn't sound like he's in any shape to aid us," Mike pointed out. "And Clementine is a kid of… what? Ten? Eleven? How's she going to help us?"
"Don't count Clem out because of her age, she's saved my life in the past," Kenny proclaimed proudly.
"She's a hell of a lot tougher than she looks," Nick agreed.
"And they're not alone," Ellie added. "There are two others with them."
"Who?" Carlos asked, a note of apprehension in his voice.
"Tess and Joel. Two people from my old group."
"Joel…" Carlos murmured thoughtfully. "He was the one who's brother has a camp in Wyoming, right?"
"Yeah, he and Tess are also the ones who are leading the herd to attack Howe's. Clem said they are going to use the chaos of the attack to get us out."
"That's great!" Kenny grinned cheerfully.
"You can't be serious?!" Rebecca exclaimed.
Carlos and several of the others looked just as incredulous as Rebecca. Kenny let out a bark of laughter and directed a grin of smug satisfaction towards Rebecca and Carlos. Ellie squeezed her fingers around the tin can as hard as she could, suppressing the sudden urge she felt to throw it and what was left of the soup in it at his head.
"And how does that help us?" Mike asked. "We'll still be trapped in here and if the walkers break through the fence we're finished."
"They think they have a way in to the camp," Ellie spoke with forced calm. She tried not to look at Kenny, just the sight of his grin was enough to make her want to stab him with the screwdriver. "But they have no idea what this place looks like inside. So, they need us to draw a map for them with as much information as possible."
"Hell, we can do that easily enough," Kenny chuckled. "Between all of us, we've pretty much been everywhere in this place."
"I can see the benefit of making a map for them." Carlos stroked his bearded chin thoughtfully. "But say that they succeed and manage to break us out without issue, how are we going to avoid the herd once we're outside?"
"They're coming from the south, so we just have to head north," Kenny answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"It still sounds like suicide to me," Rebecca muttered.
"You're a real Debbie Downer, aren't you?"
"And you are not thinking this through," Calros stated emphatically. "They may be directing the herd, but that does not mean they have control over it. We don't know for sure which direction this herd is coming from, their numbers or how wide an area they cover. For all we know it's over a mile wide and will envelop this place before the first of them even start clawing on the walls. There is no way we can make it through that many lurkers in the dark without being torn to pieces."
Sarah let out a terrified whimper and buried her face in the fabric of father's shirt. Carlos's firm demeanor evaporated in the face of the distress he had caused his daughter, and he quickly pulled her into a hug. Leaning down to whisper assurances into her ear while rubbing circles on her back.
"They got a point Kenny," Matthew acknowledged, his expression troubled. "I can't see us going through that many walkers without…" He threw a worried glance at Sarah. "Complications."
"Actually, there is a way," a new voice suddenly spoke up.
Ellie nearly jumped out of her seat; she never even heard the person approach. She twisted around and found the short haired woman standing at the edge of the firelight, one hand on her hip, watching them with mild interest.
"I walk though herds all the time," the woman stated confidently.
"First time you join us for a conversation, and you start by saying some crazy shit like that," Mike muttered.
"Hush," Sarita chided before turning her attention to the woman. "What do you mean?"
"When you cover yourself in their smell, rub their guts all over you, they can't tell the difference between you and one of them."
"The fuck!" Nick's eyebrows disappeared beneath his cap.
"Now I don't know who's crazier," Rebecca murmured, shaking her head.
"It does sound crazy," Matthew agreed, then added quickly, "no offence."
"It's not," Ellie interjected before anyone else could speak. "Clem was covered in stalker blood when I met her, and she said the same thing to me. It's how she got out of Savannah and got past the stalkers outside the expansion without being attacked. She said that we're going to use the same camouflage to get past the herd."
"Really? Huh," Kenny chuckled, smiling proudly. "She never ceases to amaze me, cleaver girl."
"Still sounds a bit… well…" Matthew trailed off.
"I've walked through herds many times before; I know what I'm talking about," the woman assured. "The trick is to just stay calm and make sure your good and covered."
"Well, you do seem to know what you're talking about," Sarita said.
"This is nuts," Mike interjected.
"No, it's perfect." Kenny asserted.
"It seems straightforward enough," Nick agreed, a thoughtful expression on his face. "But how are we going to make this map and then get it to them? There is some paper around here, but I don't have a pen or anything else to write with."
"I do." Ellie pulled out the pen and paper and handed them to Carlos, who took them with a hum of approval. He let go of Sarah – who had calmed down – and started to sketch out an outline of Howe's. Rebecca scooted her chair over so that she was next to the pair, and they started a hushed conversation about the layout.
"In less than an hour Clem is going to come by that fence," Ellie continued, gesturing towards the corridor leading past the yard to the expansion. She pulled out the gloves from her pocket. "I told her we would-"
"Were did you get those?" Sarah piped up, interrupting her.
Ellie sighed, leave it to Sarah to get hung up on the girly gloves over the plan to escape. Ellie really did not want to talk about this, but if she didn't, they'd probably think Carver gave them to her as a bribe.
"I got them from Bonnie," Ellie explained. She held out the gloves to Carlos, but he was too focused on drawing to notice, so Rebecca took them in his stead. "Her attempt at apologizing for what happened at the lodge. Anyways, we drop the map through one of the gaps in the fence and place these on it as a marker so Clem can find them."
"And then what?" Kenny asked.
"I don't know, we were interrupted by Chris when he came to get me. She did tell me that if we found out anything else that we think they should know, we should write it down and drop it off behind the counter in the comic store and she'll try to pick it up before tomorrow."
"There must be something else we can do?" Kenny said with an edge of restlessness. "We can't just sit here and wait."
"We could just ask Clem when she shows up," Sarita suggested. "It is a pity we can't talk to the other two; it would make this a lot easier."
"Maybe…" even though she spoke with a low voice, Sarah managed to draw everyone's attention. Hesitating slightly when she realized that she was the center of attention, Sarah managed to gather her courage. "Maybe… if we steal a pair of walkie-talkies… and leave one it where Ellie said, then we can talk to them."
"You know what, that's not a bad idea kid," Kenny said kindly, bringing a small smile to Sarah's face.
"To have some coordination with them would be good," Mike agreed. "Timing is key."
"Not to be a party pooper or anything," Matthew said. "But if it is one thing I've learned over the years from all of Walter's lecturing, it's that the key to a successful civilization is good and fast communication. Those walkie-talkies are probably amongst the most technologically important equipment Carver has. He'd be a fool not to keep an eye on them. He'll surly notice if we steal a pair."
"He didn't do checks like that before, did he?" Nick asked.
"No… at least not to my knowledge," Carlos answered, his brow furrowed in concentration, his eyes never leaving his work. "But he didn't have a reason to before. I have no doubt he suspects that we're trying to escape and has no doubt take precautions to stop us."
"So, the radio is out then."
"Looks that way," Mike sighed.
"Son-of-a-bitch," Kenny cursed.
He shot to his feet, face twisted in irritation and paced away towards the fence. Sarita rose and hurried after him, no doubt to try and calm him down. As much as she hated his guts, Ellie understood and shared Kenny's frustration; she had never liked sitting on the sideline either.
There came a snort from behind Ellie. Turning, she saw that the short haired woman had folded her arms over her chest and glowered at Kenny with distain. It didn't take her long to notice Ellie watching her, at which point her face became impassive and she turned away. Ellie's gaze followed her as she headed for her corner of the yard, never once looking back.
"What was that about?"
"I guess that the end of the meeting then," Matthew said.
"Looks that way," Mike agreed, getting to his feet. "I'm going to bed; it's going to be a long day tomorrow."
"I think I'll do that too," Nick chorused.
"Wait," Carlos spoke up. "Before you go, I need input first, we need to get this map as accurate as possible."
"Yeah, sure."
Ellie got to her feet and moved over to have a look herself. From what she could see, it looked like Carlos was almost finished. Though he had had very little time to do it, Carlos had put a lot of effort into not just marking the locations of all the rooms and doors, but the shacks, shelves and other furniture as well. There were, however, several rooms that were blank and lacked a description or name.
"Do I have to do it to dad?" Sarah yawned. She pushed up her glasses and rubbed her eyes.
"No, you and Ellie should go to sleep," Carlos said kindly.
"I'm not sleepy," Ellie assured. Unfortunately, she found herself having to stifle a yawn, so that the last word came out all jumbled.
"You sure about that?" Matthew asked with a sardonic smile. Nick, Mike and Rebecca laughed.
"Oh, screw you," Ellie shot back. This only made them laugh more, even Carlos let out a chuckle.
"Well, unless you think you know something that the rest of us don't, you should go to bed Ellie," Carlos reasoned. "Like Mike said, tomorrow is going to be… eventful. We should all try to get as much rest as possible."
Ellie frowned but had to concede that he had a point. Besides, now that she had had a moment to sit down to relax and get some warm food, she was starting to feel the fatigue from the day's work. She wracked her brain for any nugget of information that could be exclusive to her that she hadn't already shared. After a few moments, she could only come up with one.
"Chris said that there was some stuff that needed to be retrieved from the comic store tomorrow and said I might be ordered to help him. So, if we need some information delivered to Clem before tomorrow night, I might be able to do it."
"I got the impression from Troy that we're probably not being sent out there tomorrow," Mike informed. "Or if we are it won't be for long, probably just some final cleanup."
"That is good to know," Carlos nodded. "Anything else."
"No… at least nothing I can think of," Ellie shrugged.
"Okey, thank you Ellie. You and Sarah should both go to bed now."
"Okey, goodnight dad." Sarah leaned in and gave her father a hug.
"Goodnight Sarah. Sweat dreams," Carlos wished as he hugged her back. "Goodnight Ellie."
"Night."
Ellie almost muttered a curse when she crawled into the cold hard bunk on the ground beneath Sarah's and closed her eyes. She could have taken one of the higher once of course, no one had assigned spaces, but as Nick had informed her the night before, they weren't much better. Ellie tried to pull her hands into her jacket, but it was too form fitting to allow that, so instead she curled up into a fetal position in an attempt to keep herself warm. If it wasn't for the fact that they needed them, Ellie would have gone back to the firepit and asked for the gloves back. Ugly as sin though they may be, they would – like Bonnie had said – keep her hands warm.
"I should have picked something else," She muttered. "Fucking stupid."
"Did you say something."
Opening her eyes, Ellie found Sarah's head sticking out over the edge from the bunk above. She was looking at her with a mix of curiosity and worry.
"It's nothing," Ellie assured and closed her eyes again. "Try to sleep."
After a few seconds her attempt to sleep was interrupted again by Sarah's voice.
"We could share."
"What?"
Opening her eyes, Ellie found that Sarah didn't appear to have moved at all, though her expression was more thoughtful now than worried.
"We could share," Sarah repeated. "Bunk I mean. It's just… you look cold… and dad told me that a good way to keep warm when it's cold is to sleep close together. That way you preserve body heat."
Ellie just blinked and stared at her, at a loss for words.
"I- It was just a suggestion," Sarah said quickly, the words tumbling out so fast that Ellie had difficulty keeping up. "It was so cold last night, and I didn't want to go to my dad, in case I hurt his fingers in my sleep, and I didn't want go to any of the others and you seemed to have problem sleeping so I didn't want to disturb you incase you got angry an- sorry."
And quick as a snake, Sarah's head disappeared. Ellie heard her move around above her, trying to get comfortable, she also thought she heard a quiet sob. Ellie lay still for several seconds, contemplating what had just happened.
"Sarah?" Ellie whispered. Other than a quite motion from above there was no indication that Sarah had heard her. "If you want you can share my bunk."
There was no response, and for a second Ellie thought she had changed her mind. Then suddenly there was rustling from above and a pair of feet emerged from above and landed in front of her. Sarah turned, leaned into her own bunk and pulled out the dirty duvet that served as bedding. Ellie scooched over to make room when Sarah crawled in and lay down beside her.
"I thought we could use this as blanket," Sarah explained and draped duvet over them. "It's not big, but I thought it was better than nothing."
"It is, thanks Sarah," Ellie said. "I'll take this any day over the alternative of freezing my fingers off."
Sarah beamed, then removed her glasses and placed them safely against the wall.
"Goodnight Ellie," she whispered as closed her eyes.
"Goodnight Sarah."
Before anyone gets any ideas, no I am not shipping Ellie and Sarah. They are just friends.